Beyond the Milky Way

2.1: Area 51

The group flew out to Albuquerque, New Mexico and from there, they sat in a cargo covered truck for a forty-five-minute trip to Roswell. Sentry waved the truck through and the small group clambered out in front of a huge building.

"Not what I was expecting..." Lindsay murmured, removing her sunglasses. The architecture in front of the group was impressive; it stood as high as a New York skyscraper and transparent as glass, shining brightly as the sun's rays touched the building.

"The movies don't know what they're talking about. They make it look like a military base or a cut in the mountains. How could anyone miss something like this?" Yoji wondered. Although they stood in the middle of the desert, it was likely for the gleam to be seen from miles out. The president climbed out of the vehicle that accompanied the truck and saluted the guards away.

"It's actually camouflaged. We can see it from inside the sentry but that's it. One of the alien races responsible for this are called Esperians. Their technology is far beyond that of ours."

"They created this building?" David asked. Abraham nodded.

"We can continue once we get inside." he said and went towards the building. The group took their bags from the truck.

"Oh, hey; let me help you..." Bradly volunteered for Lindsay as she grabbed her bags. The woman blushed and attempted to guard them.

"O-O-Oh! No thanks... I got it... I'm not w-" she struggled, but he had a grasp on her book bag strap. He examined it and was in awe. Bradley knew Lindsay recognized who he was but he would have never imagined that, unlike David, she was a genuine fan! The man gave her a smirk as she tried to cover up her embarrassment.

"A fan?" Bradley reluctantly handed over the book bag. Lindsay shrugged as she flung the red one-strapped bag with his IndyCar number across her back.

"Y-Yeah..." Lindsay stammered and made her way towards the others.

Walking inside the building, everybody looked normal. Inside was like an active mainstream office; the employees disregarded the group, even the president. It was easy for them to cruise through the open cubicle space and into a corridor. The president led the group into a room like the one they met each other in DC.

"Have a seat. Your manager will be here in just a moment. He'll explain everything." Abraham announced. No sooner as they sat, an older man stepped inside the room. He gave a modest nod to the president and his cold eyes looked over the others. He gradually narrowed his eyes at Lindsay, which made her want to flinch; there was something about the way he looked at her she didn't care for, "Great timing! Earth team, meet your manager, Keith Degler. He was trained for years to manage a race team of your caliber." Abraham cut the eerie stillness.

"With all due respect, Mr. President: they are not officially the Earth team just yet. They aren't what I expected... at all..." Keith made it clear who he referred to as he glared at Lindsay. She blinked a few times at him in confusion while Bradley and Malik picked up on the notion.

"Now, wait a minute; what's that s'posed to mean...?" Bradley began.

"You got something against women?" Malik stood up for Lindsay. The special treatment made her blush and shy away from the situation.

"That is exactly what I have against women! Are you going to cater to her every wish, look and need? She will need to handle things on her own, with no one holding her hand," Keith glared at Lindsay again. "Young lady, let me tell you some-"

"... Woman..." the words scarcely left her mouth; she had enough.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm thirty-two, not sixteen. I'm a woman, not a young lady. And I don't need no one to cater to me; been doing fine for the last twenty-something years!" she declared, returning the glare. The older man's eyes widened at her tone only to narrow and turn to the president, who gave out an awkward laugh.

"Looks like this team might do just fine, Keith. Especially Lindsay," he offered her a reassuring smile before turning to everyone else. "Keith will finish the briefing from here. I hope to see you before you leave." Abraham left it at that as he nodded and went out the room. Yoji and Steve exchanged glances.

"Leave? Thought we would be staying here?" Steve asked. Keith gave out a sigh and looked at everyone.

"Yes. The majority of your training will be done here. After that, we'll be off to another galaxy. The president did tell you about that, didn't he?" he kept his grumbling low as everyone shook their heads. "The Buno Races will be held on the planet, Buno. Their gravitational pull is close to Earth's, as well as their oxygen levels and atmosphere. In fact, there are several Earth-like planets in their galaxy. But, that's not important right now. In your letters, this training was deemed top-secret. That means no one will learn the truth behind this or your whereabouts."

"... What?" David asked for the others.

"All correspondence will be sent here but transferred to your quarters on Buno," Keith continued as if he didn't hear David. "I know all this seems a bit too much to process right now. But there is little time to get you trained in the field that's best for you... and that's even if you're capable of understanding anything. Reasons are unknown on why the Esperians chose us to take part in these races. But they have and we should be grateful for the opportunity."

"Are we gonna be racing in spaceships?" Bradley couldn't take it any longer; it was the one question that was on his mind the whole trip. Keith gave him a friendly look over and nodded.

"In a manner of speaking. They're called Intergalactic Runners, or IRs for this purpose. The controls are simple enough once you're trained. The first step is to have everyone go through an assessment. From there, we will begin the real training in the area of your ability, according to that evaluation."

"Question. It's obvious that whoever will train us knows more than we do right now. Why don't they compete instead of us?" David wondered.

"The ruler of Esperia hand selected us, including myself. He felt we are the best Earth has to offer." Keith explained. The group murmured amongst one another. She was reluctant to say anything; their potential manager already had something against her but, she needed to know. Lindsay looked at Keith.

"... What happens if we don't pass the assessment?"

"It's not the assessment you should worry about; it's the training afterwards. But I'm sure you can be replaced as quickly as you were selected..." Keith looked at her for barely a flash before turning away.